NEW DELHI : Sources in Male told The Indian Express that the Maldives government has conveyed the Muizzu administration’s decision to the Indian High Commission ther
Barely a month after asking India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives, the government of President Mohamed Muizzu, whose party rode to power on an ‘India Out’ poll campaign, has decided not to renew the previous government’s agreement with India on a hydrographic survey of the island nation’s waters.
The agreement, signed on June 8, 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Maldives at the invitation of then President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, allowed India to conduct a hydrographic survey of the Maldivian territorial waters, study and chart reefs, lagoons, coastlines, ocean currents and tide levels.
This is the first bilateral pact that the newly-elected Maldives government, which took charge in November, is officially terminating.
At a press conference Thursday, Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel, Undersecretary for Public Policy at the Maldives President’s Office, said the Muizzu government has decided against renewing the hydrography agreement which expires on June 7, 2024.
“According to the terms of this agreement, if one party wishes to drop the agreement, the other party must be informed of the decision six months before the agreement is set to expire. According to the terms, the agreement automatically renews for an additional five years, otherwise,” he said.
Firuzul said India has been informed that the Maldives does not wish to proceed with the agreement.
Sources in Male told The Indian Express that the Maldives government has conveyed the Muizzu administration’s decision to the Indian High Commission there.indian Express
